BCX Energy Blog

ISO & Accreditation in the Middle East

Posted by BCX Energy News on 12/11/18 4:30 PM

Over eight years ago, the FIFA Executive Committee convened to determine the location of the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup. Qatar was ultimately chosen as the official host, beating out four other countries vying to bring this international championship home.

For those unfamiliar with the middle eastern country, Qatar is roughly 850 times smaller than the United States and is the smallest country ever to be awarded a FIFA world cup. Additionally, each world cup in the past twelve years has brought in over 3,000,000 attendees!

Despite initial speculation that the country is not suited to host such a massive event, the president of FIFA recently praised Qatar’s infrastructure progress. Sewage treatment, a critical component of this very infrastructure, was the focus of a recently completed BCX Energy project.

Doha Qatar

 

Certifying the Largest Wastewater Treatment Plant in the Middle East

Over the summer, BCX Energy traveled to Qatar to work alongside a multinational crew at the brand new Doha North Sewage Treatment Works. The focus of this project was to help secure ISO 17025 certification for their on-site environmental lab. This lab’s primary responsibility is to analyze the quality of the water entering and exiting the facility to ensure it meets certain quality standards.

“This landmark project is the largest greenfield wastewater treatment, water reuse and sludge treatment plant in the Middle East with a peak design capacity to treat wastewater of up to 439,000 cubic metres per day. It will serve a projected population of over 900,000.” - Keppel Seghers Engineering, Singapore

We worked with the on-site laboratory's quality management team to confirm that they were meeting the 40+ page list of requirements for ISO/IEC 17025. Because this was a new program for them, the process was quite involved: preparation, logistics, time on-site, root cause analysis, corrective actions, and reporting. Ultimately, all of these efforts proved successful, as they've since attained accreditation.

DNSTW Brochure (1)
Wastewater at Doha North Sewage Treatment Works. Source: Keppel Seghers


ISO/IEC 17025 Consulting Services

Keppel Seghers Engineering, an international provider of environmental solutions, was chosen by the Public Works Authority of Qatar to spearhead this Design-Build-Operate project. When Keppel Seghers sought out to attain laboratory accreditation, they turned to the American Association of Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) to find a suitable partner.

As an approved vendor to A2LA, we were ultimately tapped to participate in this exciting project. In fact, Michael Cahill is a subject matter expert in the life sciences field and performs accreditation assessments to various international standards. Specifically, he'll assess to ISO/IEC 17025 for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories, and to ASTM D7036 for the accreditation of Air Emissions Testing Bodies (stack testing organizations).

We work hard to ensure all of our clients receive an unbiased and objective evaluation of their laboratories. For this project, we observed the treatment plant team go through their standard operating procedures, reviewed their quality manual, and provided corrective actions when needed. Our goal (FIFA reference, there) was to help the lab conform to the requirements of the rigorous quality system standard.

wastewater treatment


Ready for FIFA 2022!

Another really interesting fact about Qatar is that they currently hold the title of the wealthiest country per capita in the world. During our time in Doha, we saw how having enough resources, time, and brain power can make virtually anything happen.

The process of accreditation will ensure the environmental lab fulfills regulatory requirements and demonstrates a commitment to integrity as the host of the FIFA 2022 World Cup. The BCX Energy team is honored to have been able to help Qatar get one step closer to their dream!

air quality assessment

Topics: Air Quality

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